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A social justice warrior (SJW) is a pejorative for someone advocating for [[social justice]] issues such as [[racism]], [[sexism]], or [[homophobia]]. The term is used to accuse ideological opponents of sanctimony,<ref name=thepeak>{{cite web|work=The Peak|url=http://www.the-peak.ca/2014/11/in-defence-of-social-justice-warriors/|title=In Defence of Social Justice Warriors|last=Hill|first=Max|date=17 November 2014|quote=SJWs are generally young, white, and spend their time on social media condemning those who fail to live up to their own moral and ethical standards.}}</ref> to insinuate ulterior motives,<ref name=forbes>{{cite web|last=Kain|first=Erik|title=GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Games|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/09/04/gamergate-a-closer-look-at-the-controversy-sweeping-video-games/|date=4 September 2014|work=Forbes|quote=There are two definitions. First, the definition as it’s applied by those who use it and second the definition as it’s received by those who it’s used against. First: Someone who uses social justice issues like sexism, homophobia, etc. to push a political agenda and personally benefit (i.e. from pageviews, ad dollars, etc.) Second: What you’re called whenever you talk about social justice issues when writing about games, even if you don’t mean to push an agenda or personally benefit.}}</ref><ref name=nytimes>{{cite web|quote=[citing Vice] "For certain segments of the gaming world, she writes, the term refers to “people who, according to Urbandictionary, engage in ‘social justice arguments on the internet… in an effort to raise their own personal reputation.’ In other words, SJWs don’t hold strong principles, but they pretend to.”"|url=http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/why-a-video-game-critic-was-forced-to-flee-her-home/|last=North|first=Anna|date=29 August 2014|title=Why a Video Game Critic Was Forced to Flee Her home|work=New York Times OP Talk}}</ref><ref name=vice>{{cite web|title=Meet the Female Gamer Mascot Born of Anti-Feminist Internet Drama|date=28 August 2014|last=Ringo|first=Allegra|work=Vice|url=http://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-female-gamer-mascot-created-by-anti-feminists-828|quote=People who, according to Urban Dictionary, engage in “social justice arguments on the internet... in an effort to raise their own personal reputation.” In other words, SJWs don’t hold strong principles, but they pretend to. The problem is, that’s not a real category of people. It’s simply a way to dismiss anyone who brings up social justice—and often those people are feminists. It’s awfully convenient to have a term at the ready to dismiss women who bring up sexism, as in, "You don’t really care. As an SJW, you’re just taking up this cause to make yourself look good!"}}</ref> and as a general purpose negative.<ref name=irishtimes>{{cite web|work=Irish Times|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/technology/game-reviews/are-gamers-misogynistic-some-certainly-are-1.1968159|date=18 October 2014|title=Gamers Misogynistic? Some Certainly Are|quote=The term "social justice warrior" GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Games(surely a good thing) has been used pejoratively to describe those writers who choose to examine the social and political subtexts of contemporary video games}}</ref><ref name=onlyguide>{{cite web|work=Washington Post|title=The Only Guide to Gamergate You Will Ever Need to Read |date=14 October 2014|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/|quote=..."SJW," for social justice warrior -- a kind of shorthand insult for liberals and progressives.}}</ref><ref name=recode>{{cite web|quote=any person, female or male, who argues online for political correctness or feminism. “Social justice” may sound like a good thing to many of our readers, but the people who use this term only use it pejoratively.|url=http://recode.net/2014/10/10/understanding-the-jargon-of-gamergate/|title=Understanding the Jargon of Gamergate|date=10 October 2014|work=Recode}}</ref> Although most commonly used to cast negative implications, some have [[reappropriation|reappropriated]] the term as a neutral or positive source of identity.<ref>http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/edwest/2014/11/why-social-justice-warriors-are-losing/</ref><ref>http://www.the-peak.ca/2014/11/in-defence-of-social-justice-warriors/</ref>
A social justice warrior (SJW) is someone who pursues [[social justice]] by defying existing social norms in order to right social wrongs.<ref>Southworth, D. E., & Van Slyke, D. M. (2001). A VISION FOR THE NEXT CENTURY-GOVERNMENT WITHOUT CORRUPTION. In For presentation at the annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration, Newark, NJ, March 13, 2001 and Online ASPA Conference March.</ref> The term has been used [[pejorative]]ly for someone advocating for social justice issues such as [[racism]], [[sexism]], or [[homophobia]], to accuse ideological opponents of [[sanctimony]],<ref name=thepeak>{{cite web|work=The Peak|url=http://www.the-peak.ca/2014/11/in-defence-of-social-justice-warriors/|title=In Defence of Social Justice Warriors|last=Hill|first=Max|date=17 November 2014|quote=SJWs are generally young, white, and spend their time on social media condemning those who fail to live up to their own moral and ethical standards.}}</ref> to insinuate ulterior motives,<ref name=forbes>{{cite web|last=Kain|first=Erik|title=GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Games|url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/09/04/gamergate-a-closer-look-at-the-controversy-sweeping-video-games/|date=4 September 2014|work=Forbes|quote=There are two definitions. First, the definition as it’s applied by those who use it and second the definition as it’s received by those who it’s used against. First: Someone who uses social justice issues like sexism, homophobia, etc. to push a political agenda and personally benefit (i.e. from pageviews, ad dollars, etc.) Second: What you’re called whenever you talk about social justice issues when writing about games, even if you don’t mean to push an agenda or personally benefit.}}</ref><ref name=nytimes>{{cite web|quote=[citing Vice] "For certain segments of the gaming world, she writes, the term refers to “people who, according to Urbandictionary, engage in ‘social justice arguments on the internet… in an effort to raise their own personal reputation.’ In other words, SJWs don’t hold strong principles, but they pretend to.”"|url=http://op-talk.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/29/why-a-video-game-critic-was-forced-to-flee-her-home/|last=North|first=Anna|date=29 August 2014|title=Why a Video Game Critic Was Forced to Flee Her home|work=New York Times OP Talk}}</ref><ref name=vice>{{cite web|title=Meet the Female Gamer Mascot Born of Anti-Feminist Internet Drama|date=28 August 2014|last=Ringo|first=Allegra|work=Vice|url=http://www.vice.com/read/meet-the-female-gamer-mascot-created-by-anti-feminists-828|quote=People who, according to Urban Dictionary, engage in “social justice arguments on the internet... in an effort to raise their own personal reputation.” In other words, SJWs don’t hold strong principles, but they pretend to. The problem is, that’s not a real category of people. It’s simply a way to dismiss anyone who brings up social justice—and often those people are feminists. It’s awfully convenient to have a term at the ready to dismiss women who bring up sexism, as in, "You don’t really care. As an SJW, you’re just taking up this cause to make yourself look good!"}}</ref> and as a general purpose negative.<ref name=irishtimes>{{cite web|work=Irish Times|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/technology/game-reviews/are-gamers-misogynistic-some-certainly-are-1.1968159|date=18 October 2014|title=Gamers Misogynistic? Some Certainly Are|quote=The term "social justice warrior" GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Games(surely a good thing) has been used pejoratively to describe those writers who choose to examine the social and political subtexts of contemporary video games}}</ref><ref name=onlyguide>{{cite web|work=Washington Post|title=The Only Guide to Gamergate You Will Ever Need to Read |date=14 October 2014|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2014/10/14/the-only-guide-to-gamergate-you-will-ever-need-to-read/|quote=..."SJW," for social justice warrior -- a kind of shorthand insult for liberals and progressives.}}</ref><ref name=recode>{{cite web|quote=any person, female or male, who argues online for political correctness or feminism. “Social justice” may sound like a good thing to many of our readers, but the people who use this term only use it pejoratively.|url=http://recode.net/2014/10/10/understanding-the-jargon-of-gamergate/|title=Understanding the Jargon of Gamergate|date=10 October 2014|work=Recode}}</ref> Although most commonly used to cast negative implications, some have [[reappropriation|reappropriated]] the term as a neutral or positive source of identity.<ref>http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/edwest/2014/11/why-social-justice-warriors-are-losing/</ref><ref>http://www.the-peak.ca/2014/11/in-defence-of-social-justice-warriors/</ref>


Blogger [[Andrew Sullivan]], an opponent of what he calls "left-feminism," used the acronym "SJWs" in the headline of a post (The SJWs Now Get To Police Speech On Twitter) where he argued that Twitter's efforts to control harassment of women on its platform amounted to an effort to police speech.<ref name=The Dish">[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/11/10/the-sjws-now-get-to-police-speech-on-twitter/# The SJWs Now Get To Police Speech On Twitter]. Sullivan, Andrew, ''[[The Dish]]'', 10 November 2014</ref> Writing in ''[[The Nation]]'', Michelle Goldberg responded to Sullivan's accusations: "Perhaps he would argue that the loss of some voices, the voices of those who can’t withstand daily torrents of threats and slurs, is a worthwhile price to pay for an absolutely unfettered Twittersphere. If so, he should make that case, rather than fantasizing that feminists are more often the silencers than the silenced."<ref name=Nation>[http://www.thenation.com/blog/190545/andrew-sullivan-versus-social-justice-warriors# Andrew Sullivan Versus the Social-Justice Warriors]. Goldberg, Michelle, ''[[The Nation]]'', 12 November 2014</ref>
Blogger [[Andrew Sullivan]], an opponent of what he calls "left-feminism," used the acronym "SJWs" in the headline of a post (The SJWs Now Get To Police Speech On Twitter) where he argued that Twitter's efforts to control harassment of women on its platform amounted to an effort to police speech.<ref name=The Dish">[http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/11/10/the-sjws-now-get-to-police-speech-on-twitter/# The SJWs Now Get To Police Speech On Twitter]. Sullivan, Andrew, ''[[The Dish]]'', 10 November 2014</ref> Writing in ''[[The Nation]]'', Michelle Goldberg responded to Sullivan's accusations: "Perhaps he would argue that the loss of some voices, the voices of those who can’t withstand daily torrents of threats and slurs, is a worthwhile price to pay for an absolutely unfettered Twittersphere. If so, he should make that case, rather than fantasizing that feminists are more often the silencers than the silenced."<ref name=Nation>[http://www.thenation.com/blog/190545/andrew-sullivan-versus-social-justice-warriors# Andrew Sullivan Versus the Social-Justice Warriors]. Goldberg, Michelle, ''[[The Nation]]'', 12 November 2014</ref>

Revision as of 13:14, 25 November 2014

A social justice warrior (SJW) is someone who pursues social justice by defying existing social norms in order to right social wrongs.[1] The term has been used pejoratively for someone advocating for social justice issues such as racism, sexism, or homophobia, to accuse ideological opponents of sanctimony,[2] to insinuate ulterior motives,[3][4][5] and as a general purpose negative.[6][7][8] Although most commonly used to cast negative implications, some have reappropriated the term as a neutral or positive source of identity.[9][10]

Blogger Andrew Sullivan, an opponent of what he calls "left-feminism," used the acronym "SJWs" in the headline of a post (The SJWs Now Get To Police Speech On Twitter) where he argued that Twitter's efforts to control harassment of women on its platform amounted to an effort to police speech.[11] Writing in The Nation, Michelle Goldberg responded to Sullivan's accusations: "Perhaps he would argue that the loss of some voices, the voices of those who can’t withstand daily torrents of threats and slurs, is a worthwhile price to pay for an absolutely unfettered Twittersphere. If so, he should make that case, rather than fantasizing that feminists are more often the silencers than the silenced."[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ Southworth, D. E., & Van Slyke, D. M. (2001). A VISION FOR THE NEXT CENTURY-GOVERNMENT WITHOUT CORRUPTION. In For presentation at the annual conference of the American Society for Public Administration, Newark, NJ, March 13, 2001 and Online ASPA Conference March.
  2. ^ Hill, Max (17 November 2014). "In Defence of Social Justice Warriors". The Peak. SJWs are generally young, white, and spend their time on social media condemning those who fail to live up to their own moral and ethical standards.
  3. ^ Kain, Erik (4 September 2014). "GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Games". Forbes. There are two definitions. First, the definition as it's applied by those who use it and second the definition as it's received by those who it's used against. First: Someone who uses social justice issues like sexism, homophobia, etc. to push a political agenda and personally benefit (i.e. from pageviews, ad dollars, etc.) Second: What you're called whenever you talk about social justice issues when writing about games, even if you don't mean to push an agenda or personally benefit.
  4. ^ North, Anna (29 August 2014). "Why a Video Game Critic Was Forced to Flee Her home". New York Times OP Talk. [citing Vice] "For certain segments of the gaming world, she writes, the term refers to "people who, according to Urbandictionary, engage in 'social justice arguments on the internet… in an effort to raise their own personal reputation.' In other words, SJWs don't hold strong principles, but they pretend to.""
  5. ^ Ringo, Allegra (28 August 2014). "Meet the Female Gamer Mascot Born of Anti-Feminist Internet Drama". Vice. People who, according to Urban Dictionary, engage in "social justice arguments on the internet... in an effort to raise their own personal reputation." In other words, SJWs don't hold strong principles, but they pretend to. The problem is, that's not a real category of people. It's simply a way to dismiss anyone who brings up social justice—and often those people are feminists. It's awfully convenient to have a term at the ready to dismiss women who bring up sexism, as in, "You don't really care. As an SJW, you're just taking up this cause to make yourself look good!"
  6. ^ "Gamers Misogynistic? Some Certainly Are". Irish Times. 18 October 2014. The term "social justice warrior" GamerGate: A Closer Look At The Controversy Sweeping Video Games(surely a good thing) has been used pejoratively to describe those writers who choose to examine the social and political subtexts of contemporary video games
  7. ^ "The Only Guide to Gamergate You Will Ever Need to Read". Washington Post. 14 October 2014. ..."SJW," for social justice warrior -- a kind of shorthand insult for liberals and progressives.
  8. ^ "Understanding the Jargon of Gamergate". Recode. 10 October 2014. any person, female or male, who argues online for political correctness or feminism. "Social justice" may sound like a good thing to many of our readers, but the people who use this term only use it pejoratively.
  9. ^ http://blogs.spectator.co.uk/edwest/2014/11/why-social-justice-warriors-are-losing/
  10. ^ http://www.the-peak.ca/2014/11/in-defence-of-social-justice-warriors/
  11. ^ The SJWs Now Get To Police Speech On Twitter. Sullivan, Andrew, The Dish, 10 November 2014
  12. ^ Andrew Sullivan Versus the Social-Justice Warriors. Goldberg, Michelle, The Nation, 12 November 2014
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